* Two Bank of Moscow top managers to compete
* Shareholders to vote on April 21
* VTB has got control over Bank of Moscow - paper
(Adds details, background)
MOSCOW, March 21 (Reuters) - Bank of Moscow's board of directors has proposed a former VTB executive as a third candidate to head the bank, as the state-owned lender cements its grip over Russia's fifth-largest bank by assets.
Bank of Moscow said on Monday its board of directors, headed by VTB chief executive Andrei Kostin, had added Mikhail Kuzovlev to a shortlist of candidates to be voted on at an extraordinary shareholders meeting on April 21.
VTB, which owns 46.5 percent in Bank of Moscow and a minority stake in shareholder Stolichnaya Strakhovaya Gruppa (SSG), wants to increase its holdings to 100 percent but has faced resistance from the bank's top managers.
The single agenda item of the EGM is the termination of CEO Andrei Borodin's tenure. Borodin, who with associates owns 20.3 percent in the lender, and his first deputy Dmitri Akulinin are the two other candidates to head Bank of Moscow.
VTB has moved towards securing majority control over Bank of Moscow by buying around 1.7 percent from a minority shareholder, the Vedomosti daily reported on Monday, quoting sources close to Bank of Moscow shareholders.
That deal would help VTB to appoint Kuzovlev, who served as a first deputy chief executive at VTB before being appointed to the same position at Bank of Moscow last month, Vedomosti added.
Another 3.88 percent in Bank of Moscow, owned by Goldman Sachs, will be bought by Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov, who will swap it for a stake in VTB to become VTB's largest private shareholder, Vedomosti said.
A VTB spokesman declined to comment on the Kerimov deal but said the bank still does not have control over Bank of Moscow. Bank of Moscow declined to comment.
Last Friday was the last day for shareholders to register to vote at the Bank of Moscow EGM, Bank of Moscow said on Monday. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)